Curious Cook in the New York Times: Thawing meats in minutes

In this Wednesday's Curious Cook column I write about using a pot of hot water to thaw steaks, chicken breasts, and fish in minutes, rather than the few hours required in cold water or the many hours in a refrigerator. According to recent research funded by the USDA, rapid thawing can minimize the freeze-thaw damage to meat tissues, and taste panels couldn't tell the difference between meats that had been cooked after gradual or quick thawing.